View full sizeExpress-Times File PhotosBryan, left, and David Freeman killed their parents in 1995 at the family's Salisbury Township home. Their 11-year-old brother was also fatally beaten.

A Lehigh County judge decided today that, for now, Bryan and David Freeman will remain in state prison without the possibility of parole.

The Freemans' defense attorneys, David Ritter and Charles Banta, sought to have the brothers' sentences vacated, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The nation's highest court in June declared unconstitutional mandatory life-without-parole terms for juvenile killers.

Banta argued that David Freeman's sentence has been deemed unconstitutional and that nothing prevents the judge from casting it aside and handing down a new one. Reichley, he said, is not obligated to wait on the lawmakers and justices in Harrisburg.

"I think you can sentence him in any way that you see fit," Banta said.

Lehigh County Senior Deputy District Attorney Heather Gallagher argued in favor of postponing the matter. She said it would be impractical for Reichley to re-sentence the Freemans and then learn that the punishment he's chosen doesn't mesh with the higher court's recommendation.

It would also be unfair to the victims' families, who would then have to take part in another re-sentencing, Gallagher said.

After listening to arguments from both sides, the judge sided with Gallagher. Vacating the Freemans' sentences, he said, would be "inappropriate without further guidance."

Bryan and David Freeman, now 34 and 33, did not attend the hearing. They are serving their sentences at Coal Township and Mahanoy state prisons, respectively, according to state records.

An accomplice convicted for his role in the death of Dennis Freeman, Nelson "Ben" Birdwell, had turned 18 about two weeks before the deaths. Birdwell also is serving a prison term of life without parole. None of the three admitted guilt or was convicted in Erik Freeman's death.